1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to means for providing a single ski which is adapted to support both feet of a skier, the single ski including means for securing both feet or boots of the skier directly over the ski and alongside each other.
Many skiing accidents result from crossed or diverging skis, with or without proper bindings. Accordingly efforts have been devoted to developing so-called monoskis because it was felt that the likelihood of injury would be reduced because the legs would be held on a single, wide ski fairly close together.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Examples of such monoskis are shown in the following patents, namely: U.S. Pat. No. 3,154,312 patented by Jacques Marchand on Oct. 27, 1964; U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,846 patented by Hans Schmid on Aug. 22, 1972; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,758,127 patented by Michael D. Doyle and William L. Bahne, on Sept. 11, 1973.
While monoskis as above described were useful in powder snow, they were most difficult to control and to use in hard-packed or corn snow. In an effort to provide a new and improved single ski on which both feet were be held in close side-by-side relation, which was easily controlled and was safer to use then conventional dual skis, not only in powder snow, but also in hard packed or corn snow, the monoski of Canadian Pat. No. 989,435 issued May 18, 1976 to Alec Pedersen, was developed.
While the monoski described in the above identified Canadian Patent was superior to monoskis proposed in the past, it was found desirable to effect further improvements namely, to provide a modification of conventional skis to provide a monoski.
On such modification was provided in U.S. Pat. No. 3,802,714 patented by Stephen D. Freegard on Apr. 9, 1974. In that patent a deck structure was provided which could be added to one of a conventional pair. of skis so that the single ski could be used as a monoski. Thus, the deck structure included a two-part pedestal, the parts of which were relatively reciprocable in one vertical plane of the pedestal, and adapted to be superposed on a ski and interengaged with the bindings thereof. The deck structure also included a two-part platform which was mounted on the pedestal to support the skier. The parts of the platform were also relatively reciprocable in the vertical plane of the pedestal, so that the binding on the parts of the platform, adjacent the upper surface thereof could be interengaged with the boots of the skier. When the parts of the pedestal were interengaged with the bindings of the ski, the parts of both the pedestal and the platform were fixed in relation to one another. However, it was also taught that the parts of the platform should be relatively reciprocable in conjunction with the parts of the pedestal, and vice versa, automatically to transfer the functional relationship between the bindings of the ski, to the binder means on the parts of the platform.